


One more question

by needmesomepie



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: (lowkey realises it's because she has no one to talk to, (probs should have done this first lol whoops), Angst, Barry Allen - Freeform, Bisexual Barry Allen, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I'm Trash Okay, Julian Albert - Freeform, M/M, Okay bye, Pining, The Flash - Freeform, aka i haven't seen past 3x07 yet and my heart is in pAIN, allenbert - Freeform, and the enemies to lovers trope is something we can never get enough of, and totally going to happen, and you know they are the textbook definition, basically i'm convinced this is all canon and i'm just ahead of the writers, because we all know it's true, cos that's definitely happening too, enjoy and please join me in crying over this beautiful ship, god i ship them so much, i will however dig a hole and bury myself next to you, look i'm really behind on the flash, okay i need to shut up, okay i'm really going, plz love me, serious tag time, seriously how do my tags always get this long, so all her pain is put into words here), so i wrote this to make me feel better, that come as a direct result of this fic, they're so in love can they please stop denying it, this is a disclaimer that i will not pay for any funeral costs, this is actually really cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-09-22 17:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9617405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/needmesomepie/pseuds/needmesomepie
Summary: Barry Allen. Everyone knew him, or knew of him, whether they were aware of it or not. To the world he was The Flash, to Central City, he was a CSI for the CCPD. And he was good at his job, no matter how much a certain lab partner would try to convince you otherwise. Julian Albert, who, through no fault of his own, didn't quite see Barry the same way. They tolerated each other, to a certain degree, and they managed to solve cases without each others murder actually becoming one. It was a win win situation really, apart from the whole having to spend the day sharing a lab with a guy you hate thing. But they were good at their jobs. They solved the cases. They kept Central City safe. But as good a CSI as Barry was, there was one case he just couldn't solve.Why did Julian Albert hate Barry Allen so much?Or in other words, the story of how one innocent question changed both of their lives for good.





	1. The question that started it all

**Author's Note:**

> Did i or did i not promise this
> 
> I'm a man of my word, honestly...or girl but whatever

"Hey Julian, can I ask you a question?" Barry's voice travelled through the door, floating like an annoying, persistent buzz to Julian's ears.  
  
"You just did." He replied, not even bothering to look up, nose deep in the latest case.  
  
"Please?"   
  
"And there goes another."  
  
"Julian." It came as more of a statement that time, Barry not being entirely sure if he meant it that way or not but he really needed to know the answer to his question, it had been bugging him for months.  
  
"What is it?" Julian sighed, realising Barry wasn't going to leave without asking and right now, he just wanted some peace.  
  
"Why do you hate me?"   
  
"Why do you have to ask such annoying questions?" Julian replied exasperatedly, evidently not wanting to make time for this conversation.  
  
"Julian. I’m being serious. What did I do to make you hate my very existence?"   
  
"You really don't know?" Julian turned and looked at him, confusion written across his face like it was his write up of their latest case.  
  
"No, I don't." Barry replied, defeated.  
  
Julian put down the files he was reading and leant back in his chair, looking up at Barry who remained standing by the door. 

"Sit down, Allen. This might take a while and I’m not speaking to a door frame the whole time."

Julian watched as Barry carried himself into the room, his long legs not missing a beat as he sat down on the edge of his desk. Not quite what Julian was looking for, but he could roll with it. 

"I don't hate you." Julian stated matter of factly, looking down at his desk in a way that almost made him look ashamed.

Barry spluttered on the very oxygen he breathed.

"You  _what_?"

"I don't hate you, Allen. Not anymore."

"Are you serious? Because for someone you apparently don't hate, I feel pretty hated."

"I can explain that part." Julian said, almost as if he was asking for permission.

Barry didn't know why Julian was all of a sudden ready to open up, but he wasn't about to tell him to keep quiet.

"Please, go ahead." Barry said with a sigh, yet somehow still sounding like he was genuinely interested in what Julian had to say.

"You know when I told you about why I came here, why I’m not in England anymore? I left out a few bits." Julian started, Barry listening intently even though he wasn't quite sure how this lead into their relationship.

"As a kid I always wanted to be successful, to make my own path, to choose what I spent the rest of my life doing. But because of the family I was born into, that wasn't the case. I was the heir, I was supposed to carry on my family's name, supposed to pass the name down to the next generation but I didn't want that. I wanted to go out into the world, see it for what it was, not what I had been told it was. I wanted to make a name for myself, not just be known as 'Julian Albert, heir to the Albert estate'. I wanted to go to uni, to become a scientist and just be happy knowing I’d chosen my own path. But they wouldn't let me. I found myself in this infinite loop of meal after meal after ball after meal, meeting family I never knew existed, being presented with women from other wealthy families that I should consider for marriage and being taking out on hunts to kill the very things that I wanted to learn about, just to prove my ‘manhood’. They tried to suppress every piece of enjoyment I had in my life, tried to take away anything that made me happy and told me I would amount to nothing if I carried on that way. When I told them I was leaving, that was nearly the worst. They'd told me they didn't want anything to do with me, that if I walked out of that door, I should never walk back in and I still left. They made me feel guilty for following my dreams. They abused me, emotionally and physically, for years. I hadn't realised it until I left, but I had spent my childhood being bullied at school, and then my teen and adult years being abused at home and it had taken a serious toll on me. But none of it was as bad as when I came out. When they found out that I wouldn't be able to give them the next generation of heir, they lost it. The things they said, the words cut so deep and the pain of my dad's hand across my face is something I’ll never forget. It wasn't long after that that I ended up here, CSI for the CCPD." Julian stopped momentarily, breathing in and out deeply, looking down to the floor, the memories all flooding back coated in pain.

"Julian I-" Barry started, cutting Julian from his thoughts.

"No, it's okay."

"No, it's not. None of what they did to you is okay. Abusing you? Telling you not to follow your own path and be happy? Hating you for being gay? There is nothing in this world that makes that okay, Julian." Barry said in a tone so soft Julian thought he was hearing things, no one had ever been this nice to him and this was someone he didn't even deserve kindness from. He looked up when he heard Barry moving closer and all of a sudden his arms were wrapped around his waist. Barry was hugging him so tightly, his arms making Julian feel safe and he melted into Barry's touch, not even noticing when the tears started to fall. When they parted, Barry looked into Julian's eyes, their gazes catching and he slowly brought his hand up to cup Julian's cheeks, his thumb wiping away the tears. 

"You don't have to tell me this, not if it hurts too much." Barry whispered, his palm still on his chin, his thumb moving comfortingly over his cheek and their eyes still locked onto each other.

"No, you deserve to hear it." Julian replied, his eyes once again meeting the floor, as if it were an old friend. After a couple of minutes trying to control his breathing, he continued, Barry sitting back down on the edge of his desk. Their momentary closeness forgotten.

"When I started here, I thought it was a new beginning. I’d moved from England, I’d left my family behind and I’d finally got a job in the thing I loved more than anything. But it wasn't easy, none of it was easy. Singh had such high expectations of me, I had to work so hard to get even just a small case and even still they asked you for a second opinion. I know establishing trust between people in the police force is important, but it felt like I was getting no where. Then all of a sudden I get a big case, my first really big case and it makes me think that I’m finally getting somewhere. But then The Flash and his team solve it and I’m just left to all the small cases again. Obviously that's changed a bit now and I do get bigger cases, but I still feel like I have to work so hard and you seem to get away with everything. You show up late, disappear during random moments in the day and never actually seem to do any work but Singh doesn't even bat an eyelid. It just seems so unfair that I seem to try so much harder than you and you still get all the praise. I came here for a new start and it just felt like I was back home all over again." He stopped, continuing to look at the floor, not thinking he had the guts to look at the shame on Barry's face.

"Julian, I’m so sorry. Singh always says such good things about you to me, I never imagined he hadn't passed them onto you." Julian looked up, anything but shame being the emotion present on his co worker's face.

"But I do know how you feel in a way. When I started here it was so hard for me. Yeah okay I knew Joe, which was a big comfort, but I think it made them trust me less. I worked solidly for months, stayed late every night just to try and get a breakthrough that would make them trust me, trust that I could do my job. It took a while but eventually they did and they worked with me, I finally felt like I was part of the team. I never had someone to compare myself to, the job being open because the last CSI had left but it was only me. I didn't think how much it might be affecting you and I can't say how sorry I am that I never really asked. But Julian, you are so good at your job. You read between the lines in ways I’ve never seen anyone do before and you solve some of the hardest cases I’ve ever seen in a breeze. I’m so sorry I made you feel this way." Barry spilled. His words had so much heart behind them and it made it so much harder for Julian to hear.

"You don't have to apologise, it's me that should be doing that. I got past my hate months ago, realising that hating you was so unjust because it was never really your fault, I was just jealous of how easy you seemed to have everything. I’m sorry, Barry, I truly am." Julian said, his words sounding more sincere than Barry had heard in a long time.

"Look, Julian, I forgive you, I do, but that still doesn't explain why you won't treat me like a normal human being." Barry questioned, realising he still hadn't got the full answer to what he'd originally asked.

"That's another story for another time."

"No. No, no, no, you don't get to just blow it off like that. You said you'd give me an answer,  _please_  Julian." Barry pleaded, desperate to know what it was that the other man was keeping from him.

"It's not a big deal okay? Just drop it." Julian said, getting up from his chair and walking over to the window.

"It is to me Julian! I’ve had to deal with this unexplained hatred for months and I don't get it! Yes okay, maybe I’ve had it easier than you but it hasn't always been like that, and apparently you've moved past that so what is it? Just tell me, I can cope with criticism."

"The way you leave pens lying around everywhere, the post it notes you always steal off my desk, the low work ethic you have, is that what you want to hear?" Julian yelled, beginning to get frustrated.

"I don't know, is it the truth?" Barry retaliated, becoming equally annoyed.

"If you want it to be!"

"But that still doesn't explain why you won't even try to get to know me, won't treat me like a friend, won't work with me, won't let me help you, won't even  _talk_  to me. I don't get it Julian, what-"

"Because I like you! Okay? I like you. Happy now?" Julian yelled, frustrated, as he turned to face Barry, arms in the air.

"What?" All tension seemed to leave Barry at this confession.

"You like me?"

"Yes."

"As in  _like_  like me?"

" _Yes_  Allen, what is so hard to understand about that?"

"You hate me because you like me?"

"God when you say it like that it just sounds so stupid."

"Glad I’m not the only one thinking it." Barry replied, causing them both to share a light laugh, Julian looking up to Barry, a sheepish grin adorning his face.

"You're not creeped out are you?" Julian asked, so quiet Barry almost missed it.

"No, no I’m not. Just have a few questions."

"As always is the way with you." They smiled, the first genuine smile on Julian's face that Barry thinks he's ever seen.

"Why put up the hate act if you like me? Doesn't that kind of go against all of your intentions?"

"Because liking you, accepting that I liked you made it real and I couldn't afford to be crushing on the guy I have to share a lab with on a daily basis."

"I get that, I do, but that still doesn't explain the hate."

"I thought that if I acted like I hated you, I would start to believe it and it would make you hate me too. But you being the stupid, annoyingly perfect guy that you are, decided to look past the hate and try and befriend me, only making me fall in love with you even more. Plus there was the small problem of you dating Iris."

Barry looked on, shocked at just _how much_  Julian was admitting to him.

"Talking of girlfriends, I take it yours was a lie?"

Julian looked up, a slight blush creeping up his neck and landing on his cheeks.

"Yeah...I didn't go _that_ far to put myself off you." He said with a light chuckle. "'She' was just another barrier I tried to put between us." Julian said, quotation marks visible as he mentioned the girlfriend that never really existed.

"Bloody hell, you really were trying weren't you."

"Hey what can I say, I put in all my effort or none at all." Julian half-heartedly said, turning back to look out of the window.

"One more question." Barry stated, walking over to where Julian was standing.

"You wouldn't be the Barry Allen I knew if there wasn't always 'one more question'." Julian spoke, a slightly enamoured chuckle following his words.

"Will you go on a date with me? Barry whispered, causing Julian to turn around, straight into Barry's personal space, causing him to wonder just when Barry had gotten so close. The blush that had already been present on Julian's face, now deepened to a much darker red, almost as if a plum had been smashed right there and then on his cheeks.

" _What?_ " Now it was Julian's turn to be confused. 

"Will you go on a date with me? It's quite a simple question really." Barry said, getting a millimetre closer with every breath Julian took.

"Is this some kind of sick joke? A way to get back at me for all the hate?" He groaned, so wanting this to be real but never imaging in a million years that it could be.

"No. I’m genuinely standing here asking you on a date, and if you don't answer soon I’m just going to assume that the answer is yes."

"You idiot. Of course the answer is  _yes_."

 "Good, I’ll pick you up Friday night at 7. Dress smart and don't be late." The words were whispered so close to Julian's lips that he found it hard to breathe, all sense going out the window as he tried to form the word 'okay' and failed miserably. And just like that, Barry was gone from Julian's personal space, walking back over to his desk, case in hand, a slight spring in his step.

Julian collected his thoughts and walked back over to his own desk, trying so hard to focus on the case in front of him and not the soft, gently pink lips that had been millimetres from his just seconds before. He didn't notice the little smile that had crept its way onto his lips, a change from the usual frowny demeanour he had saved for this lab. But Barry noticed, and it made him smile his own little smile from just a couple of metres away.


	2. The man behind the mask

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you lowkey promise this'll be posted like a month ago but you thought you'd written more than you had so you had to write more and then you started writing another fic cos you’re trash and now you're really sorry cos this is late and you're just a big disappointment and everyone probably hates you
> 
> please love me

Friday came too fast and too slowly all at the same time. Neither had brought up the fact that they were going on a date the whole week, neither of them believing it was real, that it was actually happening and not wanting to break what they so almost had. They did, or more, Julian, however, had stopped being such an arsehole to Barry. He let him assist on cases, asked him for help when a case came to a frustrating halt and even spoke to him as if they'd been friends for years. But still, they didn't speak about the date. Until Friday, when Barry turned up at Julian's door 15 minutes early and neither really knew what do. 

"Hi." Julian greeted as he opened the door to a flustered Barry.

"Hi. Look, I know I’m early it's just that I’d been ready for about half an hour and I didn't know what to do and Iris kept pestering me on who I was going on a date with and i needed to leave and now I’m here and you're not ready and i'm sorry because i'm early and holy shit i'm 15 minutes early that's so bad and and oh my god I need to shut up because I need to breathe." Barry finished his long spiel, looking straight into the enamoured eyes of Julian Albert, taking in a much needed breath of oxygen.

"You know you're really cute when you rant like that."

"Oh, so he  _is_ the flirty type." Barry said, once he'd regained a suitable amount of oxygen into his lungs.

"Oh shut up and come inside."

Julian closed the door behind him as he watched Barry walk into his living room, trying, but failing, to keep his eyes off the way his suit fit his complexion so well.

"You know, staring like that can be considered creepy."

"Well maybe you shouldn't look so unbearably hot." Julian shot back. Barry didn't really know what he'd expected from Julian, but that was definitely  _not_  it. 

"Same could be said for you." he retorted, that blush he'd come to know and love in just 5 days, rose steadily on his date's cheeks. He'd found it hilarious that even the slightest thing caused Julian's cheeks to turn a fierce red. Whether it be helping him solve a case, leaving a little post it note with a cute picture of a dog on it on Julian's computer, or even something as simple as brushing their hands together. The man was as bright as a tomato in seconds and it made Barry wonder how he'd never noticed it before.

Julian couldn't help it, the things this man did to him without even really  _doing_  anything was ridiculous. 

"Right, well, considering you so rudely interrupted the 15 minutes I had left, I’m going to finish getting ready." And with that, Julian walked upstairs and Barry definitely, one hundred percent, did  _not_  watch him walk away.

Not even 5 minutes later, did Julian walk back downstairs and with him take every inch of oxygen that Barry had restored within his lungs.

He was wearing a black suit jacket, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, over a perfectly crisp, white shirt with a sleek black tie, quite literally tying the whole outfit together. The black skinny jeans he wore clung to his legs, leaving next to nothing to Barry's imagination and the shoes were shiny, yet not too formal. In short, he looked gorgeous.

"Allen? Hello?"

"Sorry, sorry. You just, you look so...fuck you look gorgeous, I don't know how I’ve managed to keep away from you this long." Julian stared at Barry and there it was again, that blush.

"I...uh, thank you." He managed to stutter out, straightening himself up before he continued. "You don't look half bad yourself." Julian winked as he got over the initial shock, looking down at what Barry was wearing, noticing it so nearly mirrored his outfit. Except Barry's shoes didn't shine, they were a solid matt black and yet, somehow, Barry made them look as if they could  _glisten_.

"Shall we get going then? Wouldn't want to be late now would we." Barry interrupted the anything but awkward silence.

"And what exactly is it that we don't want to be late for?

"Now that, my dear, is something you'll just have to wait to find out." Barry replied as he pushed Julian out of the door, making sure to shut it before they got in the car, random cries of 'you call me a pet name and we're done' as Barry got in, calling Julian  _darling_  as he asked if he was ready. 

Julian complained, but Barry saw the smile, even if Julian didn't want him to.

 

It was just past 11 when they arrived back at Julian's, smiles lighting up both of their faces.

"That film was awful! Why did you make me sit through that for 3 hours?" Julian groaned at Barry, the smile never leaving his face.

"I never said I enjoyed it! Plus it's not my fault they put on a crappy film, you could have left." He winked at Julian, knowing full well that he would have sat through 3 hours of eternal screaming if it meant spending his night with Barry.

"Can't say I’ll miss your little comments throughout though." Julian told him, earning a laugh and a 'you can hardly talk' from Barry.

The pair of them had spent the 3 hours complaining about continuity errors, the terrible acting and lack of a story line in hushed whispers between them, whilst eating take out from the local Indian, huddled beneath a blanket to shield them from the sharp bite in the air. Even though the film was terrible and Barry was all but kicking himself for forgetting to check which film was being shown, the pair of them had had a surprisingly good night in the other's company.

"You know, Julian, I had a good time tonight."

"So did I, Allen." They shared a smile, bigger than either had intended, uncontrollably taking over their face.

"So, did you want to stay for a drink or something?" Julian asked, somewhat reserved.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Barry replied, siting himself down on the sofa and making himself at home. Julian chuckled to himself as he walked to the kitchen, liking how Barry had looked, sitting on his sofa.

"Beer okay?" He yelled to the living room, his intended target replying with a 'yeah'.

Whilst Julian was in the kitchen, Barry took it upon himself to learn more about the man behind the mask Julian had put on. He wasn’t lying when he said he hated his family, that was for sure. There wasn’t a single picture of anyone in the room, or in the hallway if Barry had remembered right. There was a photo album at the very bottom of the bookshelf, covered in about three layers of dust, but Barry decided that was for another time. Julian didn’t hate him anymore and he certainly didn’t want to go back to those days, especially not after the night they had just shared, were  _still_  sharing. As Barry looked around, he noticed that everything was in neat piles which didn’t shock him at all. He hadn’t heard the end of how his untidy habits were messing with Julian’s thoughts. He didn’t understand and he still hadn’t tidied his desk. It just wasn’t something he did and he’d only mess it up again when he inevitably sped into the room. There was one thing, however, that did shock Barry as he took in everything that Julian had displayed around the room. In the far corner, hardly lit up as the lamp’s light didn’t quite reach it, was a tall black case. Unmistakably made for a guitar. Did all British men just have natural musical ability? Because Barry had never run into one that couldn’t at least sing a perfect C.

“Don’t get any ideas Allen, it hasn’t left that case in years.” Julian said as he walked back into the living room, catching Barry’s eyes on the guitar in the corner.

“You wouldn’t have hauled it across the Atlantic ocean if you had no intentions of playing it again.” Barry chided back, determined to win whatever this was.

“You might have a point there, Allen. Who knew there was actually a brain knocking around inside that head of yours?”  

“Hey! My brain has a wonderful time ‘knocking around’ up there, don’t mock it.” Barry returned, using Julian’s earlier description of the residence of his skull.

Julian glanced over at Barry, Barry’s eyes focusing on his own. It was a matter of all but five seconds before the pair of them burst out laughing, somehow everything becoming ten times funnier as they glanced back at one another. 

"So, are you going to serenade me?" Barry asked once they'd calmed down, a slight glint in his eye.

"Like i said, that thing hasn't left its case in years. Don't think you're going to be the one thing in my life that changes that." Julian replied. However, his reply seemed to have the complete opposite effect on Barry. Instead of warning him off the case of the guitar, which is what Julian had wanted, it actually made him challenge himself to get Julian to play the damn thing. Not that Barry was going to tell Julian about his little plan, because after all, that would ruin the fun. 

The pair continued to chat, getting to know each other, letting on more than they probably should for a first date. But to them it just felt right somehow. They'd known each other for a year, well technically in Barry's case it had only been a few months, but it still felt right to just go that bit further with their stories. After all, Julian had essentially spilt his heart onto Barry on that previous Monday and he felt like it was his turn to repay the favour. 

 "Wait, so Joe is your adoptive father?" 

"Yeah."

"That explains so much." 

"You really didn't know?"

"No, i just thought you were really good mates because you were dating his daughter."

"Oh my god Julian, i can't believe you never picked up on this."

"What?! I told you i was trying to distance myself from you. Delving into your personal life would not have helped matters in the slightest."

But Barry didn't reply because he was laughing, more than Julian found appropriate.

"Alright Allen, i get the picture."

"I..it's just...i can't believe you're a CSI and you didn't pick up on one of the most obvious things in the entire precinct." Barry managed to get out between laughs.

"Okay, ha ha, very funny. Now shut up." Julian replied, no malicious intent at all behind his words. 

"No." Barry said, trying, but failing, to stifle his laughter. 

"Don't make me make you shut up."

"Why not?"

"Because i don't think you'll approve of my strategies."

"Try me." Now that was an invite if Julian ever heard one. Within seconds he had pounced atop of Barry, essentially straddling him as he began to tickle his sides.

"Okay no i take it back, i'll shut up, Julian. Please!"

"What was that? I couldn't hear you over this really annoying noise!"

"Oh really? Well two can play at this game." And in one swift movement, Barry had flipped them over so that he was now all but straddling Julian.

"Is this how you shut all of your dates up?" Barry asked, a smirk making its way onto his face.

"Only the really annoying ones." Julian smirked back.

Eventually their laughter began to die down and the reality of the position they were in became the forefront of their attention. Barry really was straddling Julian now, his hands resting on Julian's shoulders and his eyes directly boring into Julian's own. It was intimate in a way they weren't ready to be intimate and Barry proceeded to rather awkwardly get off.

They sat in a less than comfortable silence before Julian decided to speak up.

"I was wrong about you, Allen."

"Is that so."

"Yeah. It seems you do know how to have fun."

"And why ever did you doubt that i couldn't Mr Albert?"

"Because on all of those days, and i mean  _all_ of those days that you turned up late to work, you never once seemed hungover, which led to one of three conclusions. Either you stayed up far too late to do extra work, meaning you completely missed your alarms and overslept. However i ruled that one out pretty quickly due to the ever increasing pile of paperwork that found it's way onto your desk. Two, you take the slowest possible route to work every morning and Jitters takes forever to make a simple cup of coffee that you can't seem to go a morning without. Or three, you're just one of those really lucky arseholes that science can't explain, who just doesn't get hangovers." Julian finished, looking over at Barry to be met with a slightly awestruck expression. 

"Is there a single part of my life that you haven't analysed?" Barry asked, a slight chuckle breaking out through his words.

"You'd be surprised."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means whatever you want it to mean." Julian replied, turning to look into Barry's eyes. The gaze was returned and he saw so many questions, pooling behind the dark, but no where near dull green of Barry's eyes. He wanted so much to just answer them all, but he couldn't. He didn't trust Barry enough yet, as much as that hurt him to realise.

"And for your information, you're wrong." Barry spoke up, giving up trying to figure out just what Julian had meant.

"What could i have possibly been wrong about." Julian's less than common ego spoke for him.

"I don't oversleep, i take the fastest route to work and Jitters is by no means slow at making coffee, and i most certainly am not a science anomaly in that i don't get hangovers. As a matter of fact, i just don't drink." Okay so it was a slight lie, but how was he supposed to explain that alcohol just didn't effect him without making himself seem like more of a scientific freak than Julian already seemed to think he was?

"Well i was not expecting that."

 "And anyway, since when does someone's alcohol intake determine how much fun they are? We haven't had a drop tonight and i certainly haven't been bored." Barry wondered aloud.

"Touché" Julian replied, shocking both Barry and himself when he didn't bite back like he would have done just a few days ago.

 

A couple of hours later, and 3 bottles of beer each, they decided to call it a night. Or morning, really, because they'd stayed, talking and getting to know each other until way past 1.

"Just one more question." Barry said as he was walking out of the door, earning a small laugh from Julian which he took as permission.

"Is it too early to ask you on a second date?" He asked, slightly sheepishly.

"No, Allen. I don't think it is." Julian replied, a genuine smile adorning his face.

"Good." Barry replied, his own smile lighting up his face as he gave a final goodbye and a promise of turning up to work on time on Monday. 

Julian shut the door and went back inside, making his way towards his bed, that smile never leaving his face for one second.

 

Monday morning came and went, Barry Allen showing up 2 hours late but Julian Albert said nothing, made no snide remark, just informed Barry that he'd been at an old crime scene, revisiting evidence all morning to which Barry nodded, thanked him and got to work.

It was civil.

_They_  were civil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I, as a British human and musician can wholeheartedly confirm that no, all British men do not have natural music ability, no matter how much some of them seem to think they do *casually glances at all the youths who keep releasing out of tune 'rap' songs aka stealing a backing track and re writing the lyrics and claiming it as their own*
> 
>  
> 
> Please don't hate me for not actually writing out the date, there's plenty more of this story to come i promise and this shall definitely not be the only date they go on
> 
> And yeah we're just going to pretend that Barry didn't have a drop of alcohol when they went out for drinks (3x05 drinks because that is canon in every fic, no matter how au it is) otherwise that whole analysis section just doesn't make sense

**Author's Note:**

> So basically i set out for this to be a one shot but i lowkey may or may not have already written the date bit and another bit after that so yeah...this is going to be chaptered or a series of one shots i haven't decided yet (please help me) but what i'm basically saying is that this is not finished
> 
> See, i do nice things sometimes
> 
> Will you forgive me for the last thing i posted now? *hides sheepishly in the corner and waits for forgiveness*


End file.
